Abstract
like in his other Roman plays like Julius Caesar, Shakespeare used in Antony and Cleopatra the description of the Roman society to describe his own society. But in this play the main point of analysis was not politics but the place of women in the society. During the XVIth and XVIIth centuries, the anti-theatrical and anti-feminist critics developed. The Puritans made virulent attacks against theatre, accusing it of destabilizing the social order, in particular because theatre gave too much importance to women, who were commonly considered as fiends. In his plays, Shakespeare usually showed no prejudice against women. Worried by the criticisms against theatre and women, he analysed with his play Antony and Cleopatra at the beginning of the XVIIth century the alienation of women in his society and their relations to men. In Rome like in Shakespeare's England of the XVIIth century, women had no political or social role, except for procreation. Their sexuality was seen as demonic. Cleopatra's character in this play is the contrary of the obedient and unassuming woman wanted by the patriarchal society.
